Illinois Court Imposes $7,500 Sanction on Former NLJ 500 Attorney for Deposition Misconduct

An Illinois district court has sanctioned former NLJ 500 attorney Robert Ayres over $7,500 due to alleged misconduct during a deposition. U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Kendall ruled that the attorney instructed his client not to answer questions regarding a related case without any substantial justification, thus violating Rule 30 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. This decision arises from a complaint by plaintiff Wendelle E. Weaver, who argued that Ayres hindered the deposition process improperly. Judge Kendall noted that the repeated refusal of Ayres’ client to answer questions was more concerning than the questions themselves, as reflected by the judgment in Weaver v. Henzie. Further details are available in the original article.